Texans Money Chase…with OneTexFan

Who’s on first? How high is up? Does anybody know what time it is? What’s the deal with Andre Johnson? Sometimes the questions are easier than the answers, and sometimes those answers are as clear as mud.

With all the talk about Andre Johnson and what he wants to do next in his career I decided to listen to what Pink Floyd had to say about the topic. Here’s a quick revisit to a few lines of those lyrics.

“Money
Get away
You get a good job with good pay and you’re okay
Money
It’s a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I’ll buy me a football team”

I’ll bet you could almost hear that cash register’s “cash-ing” sound within your mind.

Andre seems to be in good voice these days, but he’s certainly not singing about the Houston Texans’

virtues these days. With one of the top NFL contracts in his hip pocket you’d think our top Texans’ Receiver would be merrily skipping down Kirby on the way to his favorite bank.

Back in the Summer of 2010 Andre re-upped his tenure with the Houston Texans’ millionaire’s club. That contract signing ‘placed/will place’ a guaranteed amount of mega-bucks into his very valuable wallet. In another way of looking at such an extravagant amount of money let’s assume that your yearly salary is a meager $50,000. (Meager as opposed to a millionaire’s income.) To equal just the guaranteed money that AJ made by signing that seven year deal YOU would need to work 960 years to accumulate that much cash. You would need to work an additional 56 years to total what Andre made in his signing bonus. Furthermore; part of the contract is incentive based. To earn that portion of his contract you would need to work only 200 more years. That’s 1,216 years that you would need to work to duplicate what he’ll make in his contract if all incentives have been met. That’s not bad. But AJ is indeed a superstar among the NFL’s millionaire’s club. And yes; according to what he’s done on the turf he’s well worth that contract, …considering that a billionaire is footing the bill. This is all about perspective, folks. That’s a lot of chicken scratch, moola, dinero, and it echoes the dreams of winning the lottery.

But there’s a burr under Andre’s saddle blanket these days as this Texans’ Senior Citizen has been reevaluating his tenable football career with Houston. Is there a quick fix for soothing Andre’s Soul? What will it take for AJ to joyfully return to the team’s warm embrace? Will we soon be hearing Mr. Johnson singing the famous song by Johnny Paycheck with the lyrics, “Take this job and shove it?” At this point only Andre knows the answer.

AJ is a force to be reckoned with when he’s on the playing field running between the hash marks. He’s well worth every penny squeezed out of that lucrative contract. And I’m betting that not too many of you out there go to your office every day knowing that you’re going to be crushed repeatedly by humongous gym rats as you’re reaching for a paperclip. (If you are then you do deserve a pay raise.)

But his power in making demands is somewhat limited if he seriously is determined to rock the boat. Or will it go down easier for you if I suggest his power to get what he wants ‘should’ be limited. How about severely limited?

Apparently; Andre Johnson wants to end his career with a championship caliber team. The Houston Texans can still be that playoff team that he wants to be with so badly. (Barring further injuries to critical teammates.) It’s not really that much of a stretch.

It’s entirely possible for his current team to find their way into postseason play after the next several months go by the wayside. (Note: I didn’t say how far that I expected them to go after reaching the postseason.) Especially with his own outstanding contributions on the playing field each week. But without Andre’s on field efforts each week for the Houston Texans the ascension into championship grandeur will become much tougher indeed.

Signing a contract and keeping your word should be a given in the business world. In this very real world of ours Andre Johnson has been the bright, shining beacon of light for the Texans for a very long time. But my philosophy is that a man should honor his contract, to keep his word and to fulfill his standing obligation with his team, …although I do understand where he’s coming from.

The Texans did plummet from grace last season into the wicked mire of disgrace that ended that years’ sub-meager effort. But that’s the nature of football. Not everybody wins. Certainly not everybody in the NFL will win a Championship either. Playing in the NFL is no guarantee that you’ll be playing in the Super Bowl before your career is over. That should be acknowledged before you sign the contract on the dotted line.

Andre Johnson is and has been one of the few premier talents ever signed for the Houston Texans. It’s a shame that he doesn’t have more to show for his efforts. I feel for the guy and I hope that he sees additional success in the NFL. But the timing of making his position public is slightly off. The time to have brought his position to the forefront would have been before the start of the 2014 NFL Draft. To me that would have made much more sense. But the process of trading a player to another team requires more than exchanging a few sport cards, bottle caps, and a kazoo. The problem revolves around the NFL Salary Cap issues and along with it are more problems than easy solutions.

If it were possible to get any trade done it should have been done prior to the recent NFL Draft. If Andre Johnson were indeed leaving the team in the lurch a young and upcoming prospect might be the salve upon such a disappointment. (But that’s not a cure all either, although it would make leaving the Texans a bit more palatable.)

In this early part of the football season it’s necessary for a team to come together so that common goals may be achieved. And that goal is to win football games. This isn’t a time to explore personal options out of dissatisfaction. I do trust that this situation does get resolved and that Andre Johnson happily returns to the Texans’ fold.

Although I’ve always respected, liked, and admired Andre Johnson for what he’s accomplished in the NFL, …if I owned the team he’d be in the dog house right now.